Guaranteed to confuse

By Charles WrightApril 8 2003
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Some Australians may be left without free support for their new notebooks,
following the outbreak of a warranty war between Toshiba Australia and a handful
of retailers in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

Toshiba says that the stores - Computer & Components Warehouse (CCW) and
Computer World in Sydney and Melbourne, and the Adelaide-based IT Warehouse -
have been offering parallel-import models that are either not available through
the regular Australian supply chain, or have lower specifications than local
versions with the same model numbers. The models they have identified are the
Satellite 1950, a 2.2GHz Pentium 4 unit with a 16-inch screen that is not
available in Australia, which is being offered at around $3900; a Satellite Pro
TE2100 with a 20GB hard drive (the local model has a 30GB hard drive) at $2750;
and a Portege 2010 that sells for about $3900 but has a 30GB drive rather than a
40GB one.

Toshiba has run a $12,000 advertising campaign in Sydney and Melbourne
warning consumers parallel-imported products are not covered by warranty in
Australia - in some cases, particularly with the 16-inch screen on the Satellite
1950, because it does not have parts.

The company's general manager, Ralph Stadus, said: "We can't do anything
about parallel importing. What we do have a problem with is people
misrepresenting our product. If people want to sell a parallel-imported product,
they should make that fact known. But they aren't doing so."

Stadus says the PCs in question are being imported by a Bankstown-based
company called ADDVA, which has recently changed hands.

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The company's owner, Sung-Nien Yang, said that his company had only sold 12
notebooks to Computer World.

"I did not do anything illegal," he said. "I didn't know that Toshiba
Australia didn't have a 16-inch screen for sale. I bought these computers with
an international warranty, and I don't know why they are so upset."

The manager of Computer & Components Warehouse, Louey Lu, said that he
had bought his laptops from a US-based website, and insisted that they were
covered by international warranties. He accused Toshiba of "trying to scare
customers".

Toshiba's Stadus said international warranties were intended only to cover
customers who bought products overseas and that "it's not intended to allow
general distribution of the product around the world".

He said people who bought Toshibas in Australia should look for a warranty
document from Toshiba Australia, rather than from an overseas branch of the
company. If Australians had bought a laptop while travelling overseas, they
would have to show proof of purchase, he said.

He warned consumers against buying Toshibas "at what appears to be
extraordinarily cheap prices", because "when you go digging, you often find
something is missing".

Stadus said prospective customers could find a list of Toshiba products on
the company's website and get further details on its support line on 133 070.